A New Look For Longchamp

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The New York Sun

It seems an unlikely pairing: Longchamp handbags, long a staple of conservatively dressed residents of the Upper East Side, and the designs of controversial British artist Tracey Emin, known for her confessional mixed-me dia works, such as “Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1995,” a tent with the names of her former lovers sewn inside.


The venerable French company, which invited Ms. Emin to collaborate on a limited-edition line to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its foldable nylon and leather “Pliage” bags, is delighted with the results. “Thanks to you, a number of happy women will daily be carrying around a bit of love and poetry,” Longchamp’s president, Philippe Cassegrain, wrote in an open letter to the artist.


Ms. Emin has designed a suitcase, a bag, and a small clutch for the line, using patchwork, embroidery, and hand-painting techniques. The “International Woman” suitcase ($4,000) celebrates the idea of a solo woman traveling the globe in search of romance and adventure. The phrase “I’ve been in love all over the world,” adorns the bottom of each bag. Only 200 copies of the suitcase have been made, and each bears a handmade rosette by Ms. Emin, inscribed with the name of a place that “reminds her of a moment of love.”


Ms. Emin’s floral-patterned “Always Me” bags bear the company’s in-house style numbers, 1621 and 1623, as well as the words “always me,” and also come with rosettes, although these are silkscreen-printed rather than hand-drawn ($520 for the small bag, $630 for the large). Her clutches, or pochettes,have a dragonfly embroidered on one side and a prose-poem written on the other ($135).


The Tracey Emin for Longchamp bags will be launched at a party tomorrow night at the SoHo boutique Kirna Zabete. The line will be sold at Kirna Zabete (96 Greene St., 212-941-9656), and at Longchamp boutiques nationwide.


The New York Sun

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